Republicans Winning New Citizens For 2008 Vote
Minutes after taking the Pledge of Allegiance, new American citizens are urged to register as voters by Democratic activists who see them as natural party supporters who could hold the key to the 2008 election. But with increasing illegal immigration threatening the economy and security of the United States, many legal immigrants anxious to uphold the laws of their adopted country are moving towards the more hard-line immigration stance of Republicans. Even in California’s Democratic-controlled San Diego, sizeable numbers of America’s newly-minted potential voters said that illegal immigrants should be penalised rather than given an easy route to citizenship as most Democrats advocate. “For a long time, immigration was OK,” said Sara Wright, 49, a seamstress from Mexico who arrived in the US legally in 1986. “But now, no more. A lot of really bad people come from Mexico and commit crimes. “People are coming in and having two, three, four babies and going on welfare. Some are making money here and spending it back in Mexico. "That’s not right. They should go back to Mexico and get a permit.” Mrs Wright, whose American-born husband Ed served in the US Navy, was one of 1,591 people from 89 countries who became citizens at a ceremony in San Diego’s Golden Hall on Tuesday.
Nearly two thirds of them were from Mexico, whose border is just 17 miles from the city. During the 40-minute ceremony, performed by a judge, the new citizens waved American flags, sang “America the Beautiful” and raised their rights hands as they repeated the oath to “abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty” of another nation. Some men wore ties emblazoned with the stars and stripes while many women dressed in red, white and blue. After the oath, some wept, others hugged one another and many turned to the public gallery and flashed broad smiles. With the number of illegal aliens in the US estimated at anything between eight and 20 million people out of a population of around 303 million, how to deal with the problem is becoming an explosive political issue in the 2008 campaign. President George W. Bush’s plan to provide a “path to citizenship” was rejected by Congress and branded an “amnesty” by many senior Republicans. Hillary Clinton’s status as front runner for the White House was damaged recently when she declined to criticise a plan in New York state to give driver’s licences to illegal immigrants. Previously, new citizens could be relied upon to vote Democratic by a ratio of up to 10 to one.
But in San Diego this week there were indications that this could be changing. “I’ve had several people here, Hispanic people, say ‘No, I’m a Republican’,” said Bill De Risa, a Democratic worker eagerly registering voters outside Golden Hall. His colleague Mary Kennedy said that one woman had told her she wanted to be a Republican because of immigration policy. “She felt the Democrats were too soft. She wanted higher fences. It’s a very polarising issue.” Sarah Thomas, 42, a restaurateur originally from Salway Ash, Dorset and one of about two dozen Britons who took US citizenship, said illegal immigrants should be sent home. “They need to leave and come back legally. “Just because somebody has been here for 10 years illegally, not paying taxes, does that give them equal rights? No.” John Pauls, 46, a Canadian-born doctor, said that illegal immigrants were a major burden on the taxpayers who had to foot their health bills and that insecure borders could allow terrorists to come into the US. “Those that do come into this country illegally are telling us that they are morally and ethically not trustworthy. They should not be here. It’s insulting to those of us who are here legally.” Many other new citizens, however, took a more conciliatory stance. Parsa Haghani, 24, born in Iran, said: “We should help to make them legal so they can have all the benefits of this great land. “They’re here because they want to be part of this country, they want security, freedom and a future. We are a nation of immigrants and we should extend the opportunities we enjoy to others.”
Nearly two thirds of them were from Mexico, whose border is just 17 miles from the city. During the 40-minute ceremony, performed by a judge, the new citizens waved American flags, sang “America the Beautiful” and raised their rights hands as they repeated the oath to “abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty” of another nation. Some men wore ties emblazoned with the stars and stripes while many women dressed in red, white and blue. After the oath, some wept, others hugged one another and many turned to the public gallery and flashed broad smiles. With the number of illegal aliens in the US estimated at anything between eight and 20 million people out of a population of around 303 million, how to deal with the problem is becoming an explosive political issue in the 2008 campaign. President George W. Bush’s plan to provide a “path to citizenship” was rejected by Congress and branded an “amnesty” by many senior Republicans. Hillary Clinton’s status as front runner for the White House was damaged recently when she declined to criticise a plan in New York state to give driver’s licences to illegal immigrants. Previously, new citizens could be relied upon to vote Democratic by a ratio of up to 10 to one.
But in San Diego this week there were indications that this could be changing. “I’ve had several people here, Hispanic people, say ‘No, I’m a Republican’,” said Bill De Risa, a Democratic worker eagerly registering voters outside Golden Hall. His colleague Mary Kennedy said that one woman had told her she wanted to be a Republican because of immigration policy. “She felt the Democrats were too soft. She wanted higher fences. It’s a very polarising issue.” Sarah Thomas, 42, a restaurateur originally from Salway Ash, Dorset and one of about two dozen Britons who took US citizenship, said illegal immigrants should be sent home. “They need to leave and come back legally. “Just because somebody has been here for 10 years illegally, not paying taxes, does that give them equal rights? No.” John Pauls, 46, a Canadian-born doctor, said that illegal immigrants were a major burden on the taxpayers who had to foot their health bills and that insecure borders could allow terrorists to come into the US. “Those that do come into this country illegally are telling us that they are morally and ethically not trustworthy. They should not be here. It’s insulting to those of us who are here legally.” Many other new citizens, however, took a more conciliatory stance. Parsa Haghani, 24, born in Iran, said: “We should help to make them legal so they can have all the benefits of this great land. “They’re here because they want to be part of this country, they want security, freedom and a future. We are a nation of immigrants and we should extend the opportunities we enjoy to others.”
posted by CRUEL KEV. at Tuesday, December 04, 2007
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